


Starry Night

by Starlit_Autistic



Category: Sparklecare (Webcomic)
Genre: BarrUni, FactFiction, I think I have a thing with paintings, M/M, Warning for descriptions of being tied up and cut up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-23 06:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20887379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlit_Autistic/pseuds/Starlit_Autistic
Summary: Barry has been having nightmares and, after a rough day in the Hospital, Uni crafts up a plan to make him feel better.





	1. Chapter 1

Another day, another fight. Today had been particularly rough for Barry. He just couldn't catch a break, every corner turned was another person waiting to hurt him. Just a minute ago he was brought to a therapy session with “Dr.” Party. His practice wasn't factual in the slightest, and was down-right offensive. Barry swears (but not really), that person doesn't have a real degree…

Barry finds a single moment of rest; able to retreat to his shared hospital room. He opens the door to the room, tired and defeated. His roommate is found in the corner, seemingly preoccupied, painting the walls, transforming the room into his own masterpiece.

As Barry walked in, the only thing he could muster to say was, “The Doctors won't like that…” as he fell right into his bed, not bothering to even get under the covers. 

Uni, the artist in the corner, stops his work. He didn't hear Barry come in; too focused on his work. So hearing his roommate speak suddenly caused him some surprise. Looking over to his friend, Uni’s mood darkens; seeing his roommate crumpled and overcome with grief. He walks over to comfort his friend.

“Hey bro, are you okay?” he says, uncertain and worried. Moments pass. No movement, no sounds, no response.

Uni’s mind starts to race, terrible thoughts plague him in the moment. What did they do to him?! Did Barry finally break? Uni panics, his mind scrambling, calculating all the possible reasons his friend could be like this.

Uni’s worrying is cut off by a single word from his roommate, “Tired,” he says, with a hint of despair deep in his voice.

Uni freezes for a moment, processing his feelings, and then replies, “Okay bro...sleep well,” he says, slinking back into his corner to give Barry the space he needs. 

Uni picks back up his brush, but his thoughts hinder him. One can't paint with a foggy mind and clouded heart. He just can't get his mind off Barry. Everything is probably okay. Uni had a hard time himself today, the Doctors were particularly brutal, but Barry doesn't get like this. He's the calm and determined one; he always has a plan. Usually the two of them would be scheming up an escape plan, or even reading together! (At least, Barry would be reading. Uni looks at the pictures and watches Barry emote as the story twist and turns. It's one of the few times he can see Barry smile.)

Uni then gets an idea, a way to ease everyone’s troubles. He picks up his brush enthusiastically. The fog lifted, his passion pouring out; Uni gets to painting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the minutes pass, Barry stays fast asleep. Uni’s plan is finished, and he walks closer to Barry, painting in hand. Luckily, Uni won't have to wake him up to do what he has planned. 

Uni sets down his canvas, and on it hosts a painting of his roommate. Barry’s figure is falling through an emptiness. Stars wave to him in the distance, for that's where his destination awaits, and the stars eagerly wait for his arrival.

Uni smiles at his work for just a moment before his horn starts glowing. A magyk beam shoots out and hits the painting, causing a tear in the canvas. But not a physical tear, an astral tear; a tear in the fabric of time and space. Dream and reality. Mind and matter. That's how Barry would describe it at least, before ranting about the scientific explanations for how ludicrously impossible the act is. For Uni, his horn is just like a key. A key to a gate. He calls these special paintings Dreamgates. Simple, and to the point. It's a gate into dreams, and he can use this to help Barry. 

Uni puts his hands inside the gate, and feels his body  _ shift. _ Always a weird feeling to enter the dream world, like you’re forgetting something and every part of your body is yelling out different answers, each true in their own way, but not in any way you can understand. Uni pushes open the gate, causing it to expand and overlap into the real world. Big enough to walk in, Uni steps forward, taking strides into Barry’s dream. 

As Uni fades from this world, the gate closes, and in the wake of his magykal disappearance, all that remains is a canvas with a singular tear down the middle.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You find yourself in a dark, lonely place. Who are you and where?

Bright lights in your eye. Cold metal table, your back is cold. You’re alone. Laying in a vast emptiness, only light and the table greet you here. Pokes and prods, fingers tracing your body, pinching it, scratching it. You aren't alone anymore, something is here, was always here. Hot, burning sensations; a needle, a scalpel. You want out. You trash and tumble but don't move, the table, the cold, unfeeling table, keeps you right in your place. Bonesaws, cutting, delving deep into your heart, ripping it open. You scream, you cry...but no one hears. The light fades, and you’re alone again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A new scene, the next day. Barry remembers it well. His hospital room, the first one, where he was placed right after the first operation. Where he broke down, where he found that he would never, ever leave. And he was back, back to square one, back to crying under the covers because he can't handle being here anymore.

The door opens, and Barry flinches, hearing the creak and slam as someone walks into his room. Probably a Doctor, or a Nurse, here to take him away and hurt him, just like every other time. Barry clutches the sheets tighter, closing his eyes and hoping that no one is here to hurt him, not again.

Instead, a familiar voice talks to him, which Barry would never have expected. His rowdy, annoying, vulgar roommate Uni Cornelius. Cornelius has never showed up in Barry’s nightmares! It's a relief to hear him, however, instead of a more malicious voice.

“Hey bro, welcome to the hospital,” Uni says to Barry, now peeking up at him in surprise. “Why are you hiding, dude, are you okay?”

Barry emerges from under the covers, looking at his roommate. His familiar eyes, an empty void with yellow irises dotting the center. His clothes, a hospital gown, dotted with various colors of paint, providing a messy polkadot that perfectly describes Cornelius’s character, messy but beautiful.

He’s here...Barry feels a wave of happiness and comfort, seeing Cornelius here with him in a nightmare. If he’s here, than maybe everything will be okay.

“I-I’m okay,” Barry stutters out. “Just...shaken up. Is everything...okay? Are we okay?” Barry asks, wary that this is a trick, all here to just make him comfortable.

“Of course bro! With me here, you’ll always be okay. No one is going to hurt you, we’re too swaggy for that!”

Typical. Even in Barry’s dreams, Cornelius talks like a twelve-year-old. But Barry doesn't mind; secretly he quite enjoys Uni’s company, for Uni has been with him the whole time, and he’s only been kind and caring to Barry.

Uni smiles at Barry, happy to see him calm. Barry doesn't know this is really Uni, he thinks this Uni is just a construct created by his dreamscape. He wouldn't be wrong, exactly, Uni is only here because of his sleeping state. But the conscience and soul of Uni is truly here with him, and here to help. 

Uni’s goal here was to give Barry a peaceful time, so he spoke again, “It’s rough to be here, I know bro. But we’re here together bro! That's not so bad.”

After saying this, Uni sees something wonderful happen. Barry smiles. He looks happy, peaceful, and it's a rare sight to see. It's just what Uni wanted, but the sight still shocks him.

It makes Uni smile too, something about Barry makes him want to smile forever. Even when he’s insulting Uni, he knows that Barry cares for him, and he’s gotten Uni out of a number of stupid or intense situations.

“You’re right, it's not so bad. Thank you Cornelius, I'm glad you’re here.” Barry replies, still smiling. He closes his eyes, and revels in the feelings. The warmth, the hope that he feels deep in his heart and soul.

Barry feels the warmth grow around him, completely engulfing him. The light is back, but this time, it's welcoming. The lights, many lights this time, are welcoming, accepting, and very warm. The world around him falls away, and nothing remains. But the emptiness, it isn't lonely. More than ever, he feels safe. There are thousands of stars in the sky, and they wave to him, paving the way for the future. They call out his name, welcoming him, pulling him in. They’re distant, but wherever they are, Barry is coming. And he’s not coming alone this time. 

The world around Barry fades, and it fades around Uni too. He’s waking up, Uni thinks. The hospital walls crack around him, blistering as they give away and fall into the starry void below. The floor drops out under Uni, but he doesn't fall. There is nothing to fall through, nowhere to fall to, not anymore.

Uni’s horn glows once more as he channels his magyk again. His painting appears, perched in the emptiness, fixed in space but with no space to be fixed in. Uni moves towards it, or at least, it feels like he does, and opens the Dreamgate once again. Flying through, Uni leaves the dream world behind, the place now forever forgotten in the dreamscape. Back to the real world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Symbolismmmmmmm I love it it's so simple and so good


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to reality, how will Barry react? Find out on this episode of Dragon Ball Z.

In the material world, Uni bursts out his painting, now planted on the floor from the initial entrance. The canvas completely rips, bulging out to accommodate Uni’s whole body. Any semblance of art cannot be rendered anymore, perfectly hiding the evidence that Uni was drawing Barry while he slept...for the best, really.

As Uni crashed to the ground, Barry jolted up in bed. He hurriedly glanced over to where the noise was, seeing his roommate laying on the floor. Uni met his gaze, and replied calmly and smoothly, “Heya bro, sleep well?”

Barry rolls his eyes and loses any worry in his expression that he had. He replies coldly, “As a matter of fact, I did.” 

Uni smiles at this. He gets up, brushes himself off, and walks over to Barry’s hospital bed. Uni sits down across from Barry on his own bed and says, “I’m really glad bro! No more of that nightmare?”

Barry has been having the same nightmare for weeks, months. He tried to hide it at first, but eventually he couldn't hold it anymore, and ranted to Uni. He was there the whole time, attentively listening, and commenting every so often to try and cheer Barry up. He felt better for a few days, but it came back shortly after and made the living nightmare of being at the hospital worse than it already is.

Barry replied to Uni, saying, “No, I had a peaceful sleep for once…” Barry seems genuinely surprised, but happy. He looks happy.

Taking a moment to reflect, Barry thinks about the dream. The hurt, the pain. And the light. His light, the stars in the sky welcoming him. He looks over to Uni, and his face scrunches up, overcome with emotions. 

Barry gets up and walks over to Uni. Barry doesn't look at him, and crosses his arms. He’s lost in thought, and Uni looks at him with confused wonder. He doesn't get to see this side of Barry often.

Barry sits down next to Uni, and doesn't say anything for a moment, arms still crossed, and avoiding Uni’s gaze and not even looking in his general vicinity. Uni is still confused, and he moved to speak, ask if Barry is okay, when he’s cut off by two arms wrapping around his chest.

The world was calm around them in that moment. Barry and Uni blushed as they shared this embrace together. No one around to disrupt them. No noises from outside, no shuffling of feet in the hallway. All that mattered, right then and there, was Uni and Barry. 

Uni hugged Barry back, fully enclosing him with his embrace, showing him that everything is okay. Barry’s face un-scrunches. He smiles a soft smile, letting himself feel safe. No one can hurt them here, there's only peace, only love, for just a moment.

Uni reflects on the moment, on his feelings toward the man beside him. The memories, both good and bad, mostly bad, but the good was so good that it outshined the bad. Like the painting, the place around them was dark, black, and unfeeling. But the stars in the sky, the warm, welcoming stars, made it all worth it.

Uni holds Barry closer, keeping his light close and safe. A simple action that speaks so many and so few words. But one set of words matter more than anything.

“I love you,” Barry says, and that's all that matters.

**Author's Note:**

> Paintings y'all I tell you. Very epic for themery. I hope y'all enjoyed the first chapter!


End file.
